Methods, Computer Readable Medium, and Systems For Triggering Incentive Redemptions

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems and device for verifying a transaction in a loyalty or advertising system are described. One such method includes: receiving, at least one processor, transaction data associated with a transaction between a customer and a merchant; determining, at the at least one processor, from the transaction data whether the customer and the merchant are associated with the loyalty or advertising system; and upon determining from the transaction data whether the transaction corresponds to a reward or advertisement, triggering the redemption of the reward or advertisement.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/087,028, filed on Nov. 2, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/554,907, filed on Nov. 26, 2014, now U.S.Pat. No. 10,861,040, issued on Dec. 8, 2020, which claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Application No. 61/909,105, filed Nov. 26, 2013, wherein each of the foregoing are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The embodiments described herein relate to systems and methods fortransaction verification, and in particular, to systems and methods fortransaction verification for systems separate from the financialtransaction system.

BACKGROUND

Financial transactions, such as transactions between merchants andcustomers, are increasingly conducted electronically through onlinesystems or point-of-sale (POS) terminals.

Since these transactions are commonly tightly controlled by financialinstitutions or payment processors, external systems such as loyalty orsales tracking systems often manage their own transactions independentlyfrom and parallel to the transaction systems operated by the financialinstitutions/payment processors.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one aspect, there is provided a method for verifyinga transaction in a loyalty or advertising system. The method includes:receiving, at least one processor, transaction data associated with atransaction between a customer and a merchant; determining, at the atleast one processor, from the transaction data whether the customer andthe merchant are associated with the loyalty or advertising system; andupon determining from the transaction data whether the transactioncorresponds to a reward or advertisement, triggering the redemption ofthe reward or advertisement.

In accordance with another aspect, there is provided a loyalty programdevice comprising at least one processor. The at least one processor isconfigured to: receive transaction data associated with a transactionbetween a customer and a merchant; determine, at the at least oneprocessor, from the transaction data whether the customer and themerchant are associated with the loyalty or advertising system; and upondetermining from the transaction data whether the transactioncorresponds to a reward or advertisement, trigger the redemption of thereward or advertisement.

In accordance with another aspect, there is provided a non-transitory,computer readable medium or media having stored thereon computerreadable instructions. The instructions, when executed by at least oneprocessor, configure the at least one processor to: receive transactiondata associated with a transaction between a customer and a merchant;determine, at the at least one processor, from the transaction datawhether the customer and the merchant are associated with the loyalty oradvertising system; and upon determining from the transaction datawhether the transaction corresponds to a reward or advertisement,trigger the redemption of the reward or advertisement.

DRAWINGS

Various embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, withreference to the following drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 provide schematic diagrams of example loyalty systems inaccordance with example embodiments; and

FIGS. 3-8 provide flowchart diagrams of example methods for loyaltysystems in accordance with example embodiments.

For simplicity and clarity of illustration, where consideredappropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures toindicate corresponding or analogous elements or steps. In addition,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the exemplary embodiments described herein. However, itwill be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that theembodiments described herein may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures andcomponents have not been described in detail so as not to obscure theembodiments generally described herein.

DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS

In common loyalty programs, merchants often require software and/orhardware systems installed on-location for managing loyalty rewards. Inaddition to processing a financial transaction with a traditionalcredit, debit or other payment method, these loyalty systems may requirea merchant to scan a customer's loyalty card. In this manner, thefinancial transaction can be linked to the customer. However, in manycases, these standalone loyalty systems can be costly andtime-consuming, which may discourage or prohibit the participation ofsmall to medium-sized business.

In some examples, the systems and methods described herein may beimplemented with little or no additional hardware or softwareinstallation by a merchant. In accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure, some example embodiments described herein relate generallyto the verification or matching of transactions processed throughfinancial institutions or payment processor systems with loyalty oradvertisement verification systems.

The embodiments of the systems and methods described herein may beimplemented in hardware or software, or a combination of both. Theseembodiments may be implemented in computer programs executing onprogrammable computers, each computer including at least one processor,a data storage system (including volatile memory or non-volatile memoryor other data storage elements or a combination thereof), and at leastone communication interface. For example, and without limitation, thevarious programmable computers may be a server, network appliance,set-top box, embedded device, computer expansion module, personalcomputer, laptop, personal data assistant, cellular telephone,smartphone device, UMPC tablets and wireless hypermedia device or anyother computing device capable of being configured to carry out themethods described herein.

Program code is applied to input data to perform the functions describedherein and to generate output information. The output information isapplied to one or more output devices, in known fashion. In someembodiments, the communication interface may be a network communicationinterface. In embodiments in which elements of the invention arecombined, the communication interface may be a software communicationinterface, such as those for inter-process communication (IPC). In stillother embodiments, there may be a combination of communicationinterfaces implemented as hardware, software, and combination thereof.

Each program may be implemented in a high level procedural or objectoriented programming or scripting language, or both, to communicate witha computer system. However, alternatively the programs may beimplemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. The languagemay be a compiled or interpreted language. Each such computer programmay be stored on a storage media or a device (e.g., ROM, magnetic disk,optical disc), readable by a general or special purpose programmablecomputer, for configuring and operating the computer when the storagemedia or device is read by the computer to perform the proceduresdescribed herein. Embodiments of the system may also be considered to beimplemented as a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium,configured with a computer program, where the storage medium soconfigured causes a computer to operate in a specific and predefinedmanner to perform the functions described herein.

Furthermore, the systems and methods of the described embodiments arecapable of being distributed in a computer program product including aphysical, non-transitory computer readable medium that bears computerusable instructions for one or more processors. The medium may beprovided in various forms, including one or more diskettes, compactdisks, tapes, chips, magnetic and electronic storage media, volatilememory, non-volatile memory and the like. Non-transitorycomputer-readable media may include all computer-readable media, withthe exception being a transitory, propagating signal. The termnon-transitory is not intended to exclude computer readable media suchas primary memory, volatile memory, RAM and so on, where the data storedthereon may only be temporarily stored. The computer useableinstructions may also be in various forms, including compiled andnon-compiled code.

The term “merchant” may refer to an entity who participates in a loyaltyprogram to build loyalty with customers, and potentially acquire newbusiness, and in exchange is willing to provide a loyalty “benefit”,which may include the various types of benefits that may be associatedwith loyalty cards including points, whether convertible to financialrewards, or financial rewards convertible to points, cash, products,services, discounts, value add-ons for purchases of products orservices, the opportunity to enter into a contest with prizescontributed by the merchants, financial institutions and/or the loyaltysystem operator. Merchants may offer goods and/or services for purchaseby a customer including members of the loyalty system.

A “member” may refer to the customer or potential customer who is amember of the loyalty program.

A “card issuer” may refer to an entity that issues (directly or throughan agent) financial cards to individuals or businesses. The card issueris generally a financial institution, financial institution inassociation with a credit card company, or other entity that has afinancial institution arm. “Financial cards” may generally refer tocredit cards, debit cards, INTERAC cards, stored value cards and so on.

“Cardholders” may refer to the individuals or businesses to whom thefinancial cards are issued. “Loyalty” may be used in the broad sense toalso extend to “rewards”, therefore a “loyalty program” may also extendto a “reward program”.

Customer acquisition systems may play an increasingly important role forbusiness. Customer loyalty programs can contribute to the loyalty ofexisting customers, but also can play a role in acquiring new customers.

The businesses of the various card issuers may vary significantly.Financial cards are generally issued by or issued in cooperation withfinancial institutions. For example: (1) financial institutions(including a financial institution associated with a source of benefits)issue financial cards directly to customers; and (2) a co-brandedfinancial card including for example the brand of the financialinstitution and the brand of a source of benefits.

Financial institutions are often interested in partnering with otherentities, such as sources of benefits, to make the benefits associatedwith their financial card competitive. This may be done in order toretain and attract their customers, but also in order to compete fortransaction share as cardholders generally carry more than one financialcard in their wallet. Transaction share in turn affects the revenuerealized by the financial institution. Accordingly, financialinstitutions tend to measure the effectiveness of their marketingefforts in connection with financial cards by analyzing incrementaltransactions involving their financial card.

In addition, financial institutions are generally interested in sharingprofit/risk with other parties in connection with their financial cardrelated activities. This is evidenced in the popularity of co-brandedcards. Generally speaking, however, card issuers are only interested inproviding access to their customer base to outside parties if there issignificant financial reward, and if this access does not conflict withtheir own interests and/or present any risk to the customer base.

Merchants provide benefits to their customers for reasons that are notdissimilar to the factors that motivate financial institutions.Merchants are interested in attracting and maintaining customers. Thecost of acquisition of a new customer for many merchants is quite high.While merchants are interested in acquiring new customers efficiently,they are often also willing to provide relatively significant benefitsin exchange for a new customer relationship from an outside source.

Merchants and financial institutions often collaborate in the context ofco-branded financial cards. Examples include airline/credit cards, oilcompany financial cards, or retail chain financial cards. From amerchant perspective, these collaborative arrangements are generallyavailable to large national chains and are not generally available toregional chains or small businesses, even though from a customeracquisition or benefits perspective such regional chains or smallbusinesses might be of interest to a financial institution.

The costs associated with deploying and marketing a co-branded cardrequire economies of scale that effectively exclude many regional orsmall business co-branded financial card arrangements. From theperspective of a financial institution, the benefits associated with theco-branded financial cards are generally limited to the type of benefitsmade available by a merchant or a relatively small group of associatedpartners. This exposes the financial institution to competition to otherco-branded financial cards, especially if the merchant associated withthe competing card is more popular or makes better benefits available.Also, relationships with merchants become difficult or cumbersome toreplace (especially over time) thereby resulting in loss of bargainingpower in the hands of the financial institution and thereby possibleerosion of benefits. This contributes risk to the financialinstitution's card issuing operation, and also generally results infinancial institutions entering into multiple co-branding relationships,which in turn adds to the associated costs.

The extent to which merchants are willing to provide benefits,incentives, and rewards to cardholders in the context of a loyaltyprogram is enhanced if means are provided to enable merchants to verifythe commercial benefit derived by the merchants, and means are providedto tailor the benefits to particular cardholders based on cardholderpreferences, spending habits, and the like. Benefits to cardholders maybe increased, with resulting benefits to card issuers, if the merchantsare given in accordance with embodiments described herein the tools tomeasure and monitor the effectiveness and incremental cost of theiractivities involving benefits to cardholders. There is a need for amethod, system and computer program that enables merchants to monitorand verify the commercial benefit that they are deriving from benefitsbeing provided to cardholders who are members of the a loyalty program,thereby encouraging the merchants to increase the level of benefits thatthey provide.

The framework for an example loyalty system will now be described. Aloyalty program may be linked to one or more card issuers, wherefinancial and/or loyalty cards are provided to members of the loyaltyprogram, referred to as cardholders. The loyalty card may refer to aphysical card with an electronic device thereon, an electronic accountassociated with a member, and the like. The loyalty system is operableto enable the creation, implementation and management of one or moreloyalty programs that provide benefits to members of the loyaltyprograms (e.g. cardholders) in connection with transactions between themembers and one or more merchants associated with the loyalty system.One or more card issuers may register on the loyalty system. Theoperator of the loyalty system, the one or more card issuers, and themerchants may establish the rules for accrual and processing of benefitsor incentives from the merchants to cardholders associated with the oneor more card issuers in connection with transactions between thecardholders and the merchants with the loyalty system. One or moremerchant acquirers register on the loyalty system associated with theone or more card issuers. Cardholders are registered as members of theloyalty program. Incentives may be defined by rules to accrue andprocess the benefits of cardholders in connection with the transactionsbetween the cardholders and the merchants by operation of the loyaltysystem.

The loyalty system may increase transactions for the merchant by way ofincentives, and may enable card issuers and merchants to share the riskand costs associated with directing loyalty programs to cardholders. Theloyalty system may connect to systems associated with the card issuersand one or more associated merchant acquirers. On this basis, merchantsmay direct the loyalty programs or aspects thereof to specificcardholders based on BIN ranges, and based on geographic, transactionhistories, demographics, and/or time based parameters.

A loyalty program may be linked to one or more card issuers, and therebyto their cardholders, by operation of a loyalty program platform orloyalty engine or loyalty system. Merchants associated with the loyaltysystem are provided with tools to customize one or more loyalty programsmade available to cardholders or members of the loyalty program platform(customers and potential customers of the merchants).

The operator of the loyalty program platform may establish the rulesregarding the accrual of benefits from merchants to the card issuersand/or cardholders, and establish a contractual relationship with theone or more card issuers, such contracts incorporating the rulesapplicable within the loyalty system in connection with the card issuers(as well as their cardholders). These rules include, for example, theterm of the agreement, accrual periods, geographic area of operation (ifapplicable) and most importantly the particulars of the benefits orincentives (including per transaction benefits, convertibility ofbenefits, accrual periods, timing of obligation regarding realization ofbenefits etc.) accrued to cardholders and/or card issuers. These rulesmay be reinforced in the arrangements entered into between the operatorof the loyalty system and the various merchants so as to define theterms under which benefits will be made available to cardholders and/orcard issuers.

The operator of the loyalty system may establish independently the rulesunder which the merchant shall accrue benefits for cardholders and/orcard issuers, generally independently of card issuer but in conformitywith the arrangements entered between the operator of the loyalty systemand the card issuer. The operator of the loyalty system may manage theaforesaid relationships, and provide access to a technologyinfrastructure that enables card issuers and merchants to focus on usingthe tools of the loyalty system to enhance their business, rather thanspending extensive resources on administrative issues.

Typically, the merchants may agree to conform to commitments that theymake to members that are displayed in a benefits area of a websiteassociated with the members who are cardholders, and linked to theloyalty system. These commitments are generally made by merchants inconnection with the customization of their loyalty programs by operationof the loyalty engine.

The merchant acquirer register on the loyalty system, if the merchantacquirer is not already registered. The cardholders are registered asmembers on the loyalty system. This occurs in part as a result ofpromotion of the loyalty system to the cardholders by the card issuer,or by the merchant. In addition to the card issuer, in most cases thereis also a “merchant acquirer”, who is an entity that contracts with amerchant to process financial card transaction information, and that mayreceive unique data not received by the card issuer.

The loyalty system applies the aforementioned rules as they apply toeach cardholder who is a member so as to process the applicable benefitsor incentives based on applicable transactions entered into by thecardholder that are linked to the loyalty system, i.e. a qualifyingtransaction between a cardholder and a merchant, as determined by theaforesaid rules for the incentives. By application of such rules, theloyalty system processes the agreed to benefits for the cardholderand/or the card issuer. The processed incentive may be referred to asredemption.

Referring now to FIG. 1 , there is shown a loyalty system 26 interactingwith a card issuer system 38 and a merchant system 40.

Loyalty system 26 may be implemented using a server and data storagedevices 32 configured with database(s) or file system(s), or usingmultiple servers or groups of servers distributed over a wide geographicarea and connected via a network. Loyalty system 26 may be connected toa data storage device 32 directly or via to a cloud based data storagedevice interface via network. Loyalty system 26 may reside on anynetworked computing device including a processor and memory, such as apersonal computer, workstation, server, portable computer, mobiledevice, personal digital assistant, laptop, tablet, smart phone, WAPphone, an interactive television, video display terminals, gamingconsoles, electronic reading device, and portable electronic devices ora combination of these. Loyalty system 26 may include one or moremicroprocessors that may be any type of processor, such as, for example,any type of general-purpose microprocessor or microcontroller, a digitalsignal processing (DSP) processor, an integrated circuit, a programmableread-only memory (PROM), or any combination thereof. Loyalty system 26may include any type of computer memory that is located eitherinternally or externally such as, for example, random-access memory(RAM), read-only memory (ROM), compact disc read-only memory (CDROM),electro-optical memory, magneto-optical memory, erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM), and electrically-erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), or the like. Loyalty system 26 may includeone or more input devices, such as a keyboard, mouse, camera, touchscreen and a microphone, and may also include one or more output devicessuch as a display screen and a speaker. Loyalty system 26 has a networkinterface in order to communicate with other components, to serve anapplication and other applications, and perform other computingapplications by connecting to network (or multiple networks) capable ofcarrying data including the Internet, Ethernet, plain old telephoneservice (POTS) line, public switch telephone network (PSTN), integratedservices digital network (ISDN), digital subscriber line (DSL), coaxialcable, fiber optics, satellite, mobile, wireless (e.g. Wi-Fi, WiMAX),SS7 signaling network, fixed line, local area network, wide areanetwork, and others, including any combination of these. Although onlyone loyalty system 26 is shown for clarity, there may be multipleloyalty systems 26 or groups of loyalty systems 26 distributed over awide geographic area and connected via e.g. network. Loyalty system 26may be connected to the Internet or other network in order to interactand connect with card issuer system 38 and merchant acquirer system 40.

Loyalty system 26 includes a cardholder benefits (e.g. incentives)processing utility 30. In one example of an implementation, thecardholder benefits processing utility 30 may be a software component ofa web utility that provides a loyalty engine. Accordingly, cardholderbenefits processing utility 30 may be referred to as a loyalty engine.The cardholder benefits processing utility 30 may be programmed toconfigure the data storage device database 32 with benefits accounts 34a of the various cardholders who are members.

The loyalty system 26 may be programmed to configure the data storagedevice 32 with merchant accounts 34 b of the various merchants who areregistered with loyalty system 26 to provide loyalty programs and offerincentives or benefits.

The loyalty system 26 may be programmed to configure the data storagedevice database 32 with card issuer accounts 34 c of the various cardissuers who are registered with loyalty system 26 to provide loyaltycards to cardholders for loyalty programs.

Access to different aspects and account records of the data storagedevice 32 may provided by an administration utility (not shown) thatenables hierarchical access to the data storage device 32, depending onpermissions assigned by the operator of the loyalty system, to each ofmembers, merchants, card issuers and merchant acquirers. The purpose ofproviding this access is to provide transparency to the benefits beingprovided to members who are cardholders by operation of the loyaltysystem 26.

Loyalty system 26 further includes a reporting utility or transactiondata reporting 36, which may be further linked to the cardholderbenefits processing utility 30 and data storage device 32 to providevarious reports of interest to merchants, merchant acquirers, cardissuers and cardholders. For example, transaction data reporting 36 maypermit merchants, merchant acquirers and card issuers to generatereports on measured performance of benefits or incentives provided tothem by the loyalty system 26 in their sphere of interest. One of thepurposes of the reporting utility 36 is to enable the organizationslinked to the loyalty system 26 to calibrate their involvement (e.g. bymerchants or card issuers calibrating the benefits that they provide)targeted to cardholders, and to review the results of their loyaltyprograms management by loyalty system 26.

Loyalty system 26 may include program module 22 which may be a hardwareand software tool to manage the various loyalty programs managed byloyalty system 26. Loyalty programs may be particular to one or morecard issuers or merchants, or a combination thereof.

In example embodiments described herein, card issuer system 38 isprovided with tools to design and implement their own loyalty programs,including cross-promotional programs in conjunction with merchants. Thecard issuer system 38 may design and implement loyalty programs specificto a particular card issuer using card issuer interface 50.

In example embodiments described herein, merchant system 40 is providedwith tools to design and implement their own loyalty programs, viewreports regarding their loyalty programs, design and implement their ownbenefits or incentives, including cross-promotional programs andbenefits in conjunction with card issuers. The merchant system 40 maydesign and implement loyalty programs and incentives using merchantinterface 52.

Loyalty system 26 may be operable with any financial card that permitstracking of transaction information through card processing systems.Financial cards such as credit cards, debit cards, INTERAC cards, storedvalue cards, may be designated by a BIN number range. The BIN rangeidentifies the financial card type and the issuing financial institution(e.g. card issuers). Card issuers typically market card types to certainsegments of the population based upon demographic data such as creditscores, income, age, location, and anticipated card use. Because of thisthe BIN range may also represent a market or demographic segment ofcardholders. For example, co-branded business travel cards may bemarketed towards persons and organizations that typically utilize thespecialized features of a travel card, such as points for travel and/orspecialized services (e.g. travel insurance, lost baggage coverage) tofacilitate needs and wants of persons who travel regularly. Anothercard, such as a TOYS R US card, for example, may be provided to youngfamilies. Each financial card therefore may be used to target particularconsumer needs. The unique BIN range associated with each financial cardmay enable the use of a particular financial card to be identifiedwithin the loyalty system (below). This in turn enables merchants totarget particular groups of members based on demographic dataextrapolated from the financial card that they are using (by operationof the BIN range associated with their card), or more particularlydemographic data associated with a sub-set of cardholders using aparticular financial card, possibly as communicated by the card issuer.As will be described herein, loyalty system 26 may recommend incentivestailored to segments of customers, where the recommendation may be basedon BIN range and other attributes of customers, such as spending habits,interests, needs, wants, charities, social habits, etc.

Embodiment described herein may utilize the BIN range of co-brandedcards to develop additional transactions and associated incentives toselected groups of card holders and promote the use of certain financialcards for the transactions for the benefit of: cardholders, merchants,financial card issuers and merchant acquirers.

In accordance with the embodiments described herein, a card issuersystem 38 and thereby one or more of its cardholders, are linked to theloyalty system 26. The loyalty programs provided by this loyalty system26 may run in parallel with other loyalty and rewards programs. Inaccordance with embodiments described herein, costs of implementationmay be very low for card issuer system 38 as it may interface withloyalty system 26 to access loyalty engine 30, etc. The loyalty system26 is operable, via the Internet for example, to engage in real timedata communications with a card issuer system 38 and/or a merchantsystem 40. Accordingly, seamless data flows between these systems can beestablished in order to enable the capture of financial transactions andcardholder data, and also the accrual of benefits or incentives based ondata provided to the loyalty system 26 by each of the card issuer system38 and the merchant acquirer system 40.

Loyalty system 26 is not only a loyalty system used by merchants butalso becomes a secondary loyalty system for the card issuer for itscardholders. Loyalty system 26 is operable to provide system tools forthe card issuer to receive payments from the merchants in connectionwith transactions between the merchants and the cardholders of the cardissuer who are registered with the loyalty system 26. The card issuermay receive payment from the merchants indirectly through interchangefees collected by a merchant acquirer from the merchants at the time atransaction is processed on a financial card. In this particularembodiment the card issuer can receive payments and/or points fromloyalty system merchants for transactions made by cardholders.

The card issuer may propose to encourage a specific demographic (asdefined by a BIN range) to join the loyalty program by tailoringbenefits and incentives to the specific segment of cardholders. Loyaltysystem 26 may recommend incentives based on attributes of the segment ofcardholders. The merchants in the loyalty system 26 may agree to provideadditional payments to the card issuer in the form of points or cash fortransactions between merchants and cardholders of a selected BIN range(e.g. targeted segment) that have registered their financial card withthe loyalty system 26 or opted in to the applicable loyalty program. Byoperation of the loyalty system 26, merchants may have the ability tovary the amount or the percentage of the transaction accrued and paid tothe card issuer, or some other aspect of the benefit provided. Thepayment may be in the form of cash or redeemable points. The loyaltysystem 26 is operable to calculate the amount accrued to be paid to thecard issuer for each cardholder who is a member by each merchant. Thereporting facility provides visibility to the card issuer and themerchant in regard to the amounts accrued and subsequently paid at theend of the measurement period.

The amounts transferred to the card issuer may be re-distributed by thecard issuer to the cardholders in the form of extra points fortransactions completed or the card issuer may retain a percentage of theamount transferred, for example, as an administration fee. In otherwords, the amounts transferred can then be accrued and distributed inaccordance with the card issuer's own rules therefore.

In some circumstances the card issuer and the merchants of the loyaltysystem 26 may choose to offer special offers/prizes (e.g. incentives)through the merchants and the loyalty system 26. The card issuer and theloyalty system pre-determine the conditions under which this occurs.Typically, the incentives are associated with conditional transactionswith merchants (e.g. the purchase of a particular good or service isrequired in order to receive the special offer or prize). Thisencourages cardholders to conduct transactions with merchants. When aregistered cardholder enters into such a transaction with a merchant inconnection with the loyalty system 26, an amount owed by the card issuerto the merchant is recorded. At the end of the reporting period thesystem aggregates the amounts owed to merchants by the card issuer andsettlement is made and then reimbursement funds are distributed to therespective merchants.

Loyalty system 26 may result in more transactions on the particularregistered financial card of the card issuer, moreindividuals/businesses owning and using a financial card with aparticular BIN range(s) and distribution of the cost of incentivesprovided to the customer by the card issuer and the merchant within theloyalty system 26. The amounts owed the merchants or to cardholder/cardissuer are tracked within the loyalty system for the accounting period.Further, loyalty system 26 may recommend incentives particularlytailored to targeted segments of cardholders and potentially cardholdersto further increase particular transactions. The recommended incentivesand associated transactions are likely to be of interest to the targetedsegment based on data mining and correlations of cardholder (andpotential customer and cardholder) attributes.

The end result may be the accrual of benefits and incentives the to thebenefits account 34, which then in is disbursed on a periodic basis tothe applicable card issuers.

The operator of the loyalty system may enter into a contract with afinancial institution that has a plurality of co-branded cards and seeksnew customer base potential through the financial institution'sco-branded card partners that have an interest in increasingtransactions on their co-branded card by attracting merchants. In thiscase, it may be a business limitation that products and servicesassociated with the loyalty program for the most part will not competewith the co-branded partner's business, i.e. that the businessesinvolved be complementary. The financial institution contacts andmotivates its customer base (cardholders) to join the loyalty programand thereby provide the loyalty system 26 with a stream of new members.As stated earlier, the members joining the loyalty system through thisreferral source are associated with their co-branded card(s) within theloyalty system 26, each co-branded card being identified by differentBIN number ranges and thereby historical demographics, credit scoreranges and preferences associated with the particular card. Cardholdersmay individually join the loyalty program and register their card.

The loyalty system 26 may use the BIN number range and any associateddemographic and credit score, along with geography and any customerpreferences (e.g. cardholder attributes) to recommend special offers forloyalty programs of merchants to the individual cardholders (forexample: unique product/service offerings to specifically tailored tocustomers). The loyalty system 26 is operable when a member with aco-branded card that is within a suitable BIN number range enters into atransaction with a merchant to record the applicable transactioninformation as cardholder attributes, aggregate said transactioninformation, and supply measured results to both the merchant and thecard issuer.

Typically there is comity of interest between the merchants and the cardissuers, in that merchants will be willing to provide the greatestincentives to the cardholders that the card issuers are most interestedin providing incentives to. Accordingly, from a card issuer perspective,loyalty system 26 provides an efficient mechanism for maximizingbenefits being provided to their preferred customers by having themregister with a loyalty program where merchants, in the interest ofpromoting their own products/services, will automatically provideoptimal benefits to these preferred customers.

For example, a new member, joining through a co-branded card reference,transacts with the registered financial card, and in the embodimentwhere the merchant and/or the co-branded issuer supply the additionalbenefit (which, typically being supplied through the normal co-brandedcard channels, consists of points, discounts or cash back). The amountpaid by the merchant is usually based upon on one or more of thefollowing: (1) the amount of the transaction; (2) the value of thetransaction; and/or (3) the value of the transaction less an amount thatwas set as a pre-condition.

The card issuers may benefit financially from the transactions involvingtheir financial cards in numerous ways: (1) cardholders carrying creditcard balances; (2) maintaining customers using the incentives andselling other products/services to such customers; (3) acquiring newcustomers for such products/services using incentives; (4) financialincentives provided to financial institutions in exchange forpromotional access to their customers; (5) interchange fees associatedwith transactions involving the financial cards; (6) yearly card fees;(7) transaction fees charged to the cardholder (if applicable); (8)currency exchange fees; (9) fees payable to the card issuer by merchants(generally tied to BIN ranges); (10) augmentation of card issuer'sloyalty program (reduction of costs associated with card issuer'sloyalty program, i.e. replacement of card issuer paid benefits withmerchant paid benefits; and (11) revenue from merchant acquirer foradditional transactions involving the merchant and the merchantacquirer; (12) customer tailored incentives through recommendationengine.

The merchant acquirer may receive the benefits of: (1) additionalmerchants who join their processing system to increase their access to aBIN range of cardholders; (2) additional revenue from merchants(participation fees); (3) increased revenue from additional merchanttransactions; (4) ability to differentiate over other merchant acquirersbased on the ability to provide access to the loyalty system. Merchantsystem 40 may also refer to a merchant acquirer system 40.

Loyalty system 26 provides for a linkage of a data between the merchantsystems 40 and card issuers systems 38, and thereby their cardholders,facilitated through the loyalty system 26 technology that enables a cardissuer to include its cardholders in a secondary loyalty system thatsupplements any card issuer point system. Although only one card issuersystem 38 is shown in FIG. 1 for simplicity, there may be multiple cardissuer systems 38 connected to loyalty system 26. Although only onemerchant system 40 (or merchant acquirer system 40) is shown in FIG. 1for simplicity, there may be multiple merchant systems 40 connected toloyalty system 26.

Loyalty and customer acquisition programs may be required to continuallyacquire new members, preferably at a low cost, e.g. through organicgrowth or through a partnership with various customer sources, includingcard issuers. Card issuer system 38 may retain cardholder databases oftransaction information and other cardholder benefits, which may includedata from other loyalty program operators and with participatingmerchants. Loyalty system 26 may access the cardholder databases todetect cardholder attributes in order to recommend incentives.

In the card transaction process, the card issuer generally has access tothe following transaction information: (1) cardholder name; (2) cardnumber; (3) date of transaction; (4) merchant ID; (5) amount ofpurchase; and (6) BIN number. Other information may also be accessiblesuch as demographic, geographic, and credit score information relatingthe cardholder. This information may be stored in cardholder databasesand accessed by loyalty system 26.

Some financial institutions have both card issuing and merchantacquiring business lines and loyalty system 26 may enable the two linesto work together for common benefit. The merchant acquirers may haveaccess to following additional information that may not be generallyavailable to the card issuer: (1) the time of the transaction; (2) theterminal ID (within a merchant system); and (3) the fee rates chargedthe merchant based upon the financial card and how the financial card isused (e.g. internet transaction vs. verified signature). Loyalty system26 may access this information (e.g. cardholder attributes) to recommendincentives.

Loyalty system 26 is operable to link the card issuer, the cardholder,the merchant acquirer and the merchants such that the loyalty system 26is operable to match time of day data (or other common variables) of atransaction with other information provided by the card issuer to theloyalty system 26. This functionality allows merchants to offer time ofday or otherwise tailored special offers (e.g. incentives) to specificcardholders who are members of the loyalty system.

Loyalty system 26 is operable to match the terminal ID informationobtained from the merchant processor with the transaction informationobtained from the card issuer. This allows a merchant and/or a cardissuer to tailor benefits to specific geographic locations, and enablesloyalty system 26 to recommend incentives for specific geographiclocations and other cardholder attributes.

Loyalty system 26 enables each of the merchants, members and cardissuers to track the accrual of benefits by means of financial cardtransactions that in connection with the loyalty system 26 result in theaccrual of loyalty benefits (e.g. incentives).

Loyalty system 26 is operable to store the data items mentioned above(and other similar data items) to the data storage device 32 and applysame against transactions between participating members andparticipating merchants. Loyalty system 26 may use the data items torecommend incentives and corresponding transactions.

The following provides an example transaction process. A cardholder whois a member transacts with a merchant using their financial card. Themerchant transaction data is then usually settled by the merchantacquirer. The member transaction data (e.g. cardholder attributes) isthen preferably transmitted to the loyalty system 26. This membertransaction data usually includes the data items described above. Thisdata is then stored to the data storage device 32, which may include arelational database. The rules defined for the cardholder within theloyalty system are then applied to the merchant transaction data.

As stated earlier, an agreement is entered into between the card issuerand the operator of the loyalty system on behalf of the merchants. Theagreement may extend to one or more accounting periods. The agreementgenerally establishes the expected relationship and flow of fundsbetween the financial institution and the merchants based on anticipatedtransactions, as well as the additional incentives that will be providedto the cardholders for transactions linked to the loyalty system and whowill be the party covering the costs of such additional incentives andhow. The agreement generally covers group of financial cards, identifiedby a BIN range. Also as stated earlier, cardholders are encouraged bythe card issuer to join the loyalty program for additional cash rewards,points and/or special offers.

Prior to the beginning of an accounting period, and after cardholdershave registered their particular financial card with the loyalty system,the agreement between the cardholder and the loyalty system may beimplemented by the merchants who set the offers and incentives that willbe made to cardholders of certain BIN ranges (these are examples of themerchant rules).

When a cardholder transacts with one of merchants under the applicableloyalty program, the loyalty system 26 is operable to review thebenefits applicable to the BIN number and either 1) accrue thepoints/cash discount (less the administration amount paid to the cardissuer) to the cardholder from the transaction, by reflecting suchaccrual in the benefits account for the cardholder. The cardholder isnotified of the award of points, and the card issuer is notified of theaccrual set aside by the loyalty system to be paid by the merchant atthe end of the accounting period. These amounts are separate from theamounts paid to the card issuer through the interchange system, unless aspecial rate for the loyalty system has been established and applied bythe merchant acquirer.

The loyalty system accrues the points/special cash back awards for eachcardholder and what is owed the card issuer by the merchant. Merchantsgenerally pay cash or cash in lieu of points as a reward to the cardissuer. Different incentives/rewards can apply to different BIN rangesby a single merchant or by a group of merchants.

In summary, the merchant rules applicable for a specific accrual periodare applied so as to update the benefit account 34 for the particularcardholder, for example. Generally speaking, the loyalty system 26 isoperable to, after an accrual period has come to an end, to verify theaccrued amounts in the benefit accounts 34. These can then be accessedand displayed by members or cardholders.

After an accrual period is closed, the loyalty system 26 may then permitmembers to access the loyalty system 26 to engage in a number oftransactions in connection with their accrued benefits such asredemption, conversion of fees to points etc.

A particular process for conversion of fees to points will be describedas an illustrative example with reference to the point conversionutility 54. The point conversion utility 54 enables enhancement of acard issuer's exiting loyalty programs based upon points or cash backcardholder benefits created by cardholder use in connection with aloyalty program and provided by incentives offered to cardholder. Thepoint conversion utility 54 may allow the card issuer to reward theircardholders in the same format as under their existing cardholderprogram. These points and rewards are examples of incentives.

For instance, some existing financial cards have points or cash rewardsystems or a combination of both to promote financial card use. Thecardholder may accumulate points and cash rewards for later use. Theloyalty system 26 allows for the card issuer to take all or a portion ofexisting fees developed from financial card use and apply them tocardholder points or cash. Alternatively, the loyalty system 26 could beutilized by card issuer to create an additional source of revenue fromthe merchant fees by not converting all of the collected fees and givingthe benefit to the financial card holders.

The fee and point information may be transferred to the card issuer at“X” days after the end of an accumulation period. The information islater integrated by existing financial card issuer software toconsolidate the point and/or fees that are passed on to the cardholder.

The conversion from points to fees is accommodated by comparing thetransaction data of identified cardholders against rule-sets created andmaintained by the card issuer. The rule-sets may, for example, containthe following information regarding transaction data: 1. TransactionAmount 2. Transaction Date 3. Transaction Time 4. Merchant ID 5. CardHolder ID 6. Card BIN number

An example of a card issuer rule-set includes: Card Holder Bin number“1111” minimum qualifying transaction with Merchant “A” is $100.00; NoMaximum qualifying transaction or conversion restrictions exist; Thetransaction must occur between 00:00:00-00:07:00 EST; The transactionmust occur between Jan. 1, 2004 and Jan. 15, 2004; Card Issuer wouldlike to give card holder 1.0 point for every dollar transacted withmerchant “A”; Merchant “A” Card Holder Id 0-10000 Card Holder BIN Number“2222”; Minimum qualifying transaction with Merchant “A” is $100.00;Maximum qualifying transaction amount is $1000.00; Transaction mustoccur between 00:00:00-00:07:00 EST; Transaction must occur between Jan.1, 2004 and Jan. 15, 2004; Card Issuer would like to give card holder1.0 point for every dollar transacted with merchant “A”; Merchant “A”Card Holder Id 0-10000; Card Holder BIN Number “3333”; Min. qualifyingtransaction with Merchant “A” is $100.00; Maximum qualify transactionamount is $10,000.00; Transaction must occur between 00:00:00-00:07:00EST; Transaction must occur between Jan. 1, 2004 and Jan. 15, 2004; CardIssuer would like to record card holder $0.01 benefits for every dollartransacted with merchant “A”; and Merchant “A” Card Holder Id 0-10000.

In another example of the related transaction detail: Card Holder BINnumber “1111”; Transaction Amount: $104.00; Transaction Date: Jan. 1,2004; Transaction Time: 00:00:12; Merchant: “A”; and Card Holder ID: 1.

The example result may be that system 26 would calculate 100 points forthe transaction detail and record the transaction information andrelated conversion amount 100 points as cardholder attributes in storagedevice 32.

In yet another example of the processing of a transaction: TransactionDetail Card Holder BIN Number “2222” Transaction Amount: $90.00Transaction Date: Jan. 1, 2004 Transaction Time: 00:00:12 Merchant: “B”Card Holder ID: 999999=

The example result may be that system 26 would NOT create any points forthe transaction because the transaction failed to meet the criteria forpoint conversion for the transaction detail Merchant “B” is not part ofthe conversion rule-set Card holder is not part of any existingrule-sets

In yet another example of the processing of a transaction: TransactionDetail Card Holder BIN Number “3333” Transaction Amount: $900.00Transaction Date: Jan. 1, 2004 Transaction Time: 00:00:12 Merchant: “A”Card Holder ID: 999999

The example result may be that system 26 would record $0.90 of benefitassociated with the above transaction information tied to the cardholder ID number of “999999”.

An example process in connection with the generation of reports based onthe contents of data storage device 32 will now be described. A systemadministrator of the operator of the loyalty system may access certainreports in connection with merchant activity in connection withparticular BIN ranges. Similar processes and system implementations maybe used to generate other reports of information accessible to cardissuers, merchants, members or merchant acquirers. The loyalty system 26is operable to generate reports for card issuers to track the use andmonitor the results of financial card use with identified merchants.

For instance a card issuer may wish to view the status of conversion ofpoints to fees. The loyalty system 26 may allow for a SystemAdministrator to log in and generate reports regarding the amount offees that have been converted to points to monitor the effectiveness ofthe applicable loyalty program.

As an illustrative and non-limiting example, the System Administratorenters the following parameters for report generation on behalf of thecard issuer: 1) Start Date 2) End Date 3) BIN Number 4) FinancialInstitution ID 5) Merchant ID 6) Transaction Time 7) TransactionTerminal ID 8) Report Type. The loyalty system 26 may return the dataassociated with the transaction(s) to monitor the points and feescollected and converted to allow the card issuer to view data regardingthe status of the system.

A card issuer may want to know which merchants are supporting aparticular financial card to judge the effectiveness of the businessrelationship between the merchant and the cardholders. By examining thetransaction information the card issuer can judge the effectiveness ofhaving particular merchants within the loyalty system, based oncollected merchant fees. A cardholder may elect to charge the merchantadditional fee amounts as the merchant receives strong support from thecardholders of a particular card issuer.

The described reporting functionality can also be used to track the datanecessary to integrate the data of points and fees held within theloyalty system for a given time period. A card issuer may elect to viewthe information to keep current information regarding benefits that aredue to the cardholders.

By examining the data of accumulated points and fees a card issuer mayelect to alter the conversion rules to give more benefits to thecardholders and thereby create more demand for a financial card use at aparticular merchant(s). This type of reporting can also be used to provethe value to the merchants and cardholders derived from card use at anidentified merchant(s).

Merchants may generally view only the information regarding thetransactions that were made with identified cardholders. The loyaltysystem 26 may allow for a System Administrator to see the followinginformation: 1) Time range of transactions 2) Date range of transactions3) BIN Range of transactions 4) Summary amounts of transactions.

The loyalty system 26 may generally restrict the information that themerchant can view by providing summary data only. The summary dataprotects the cardholders from direct exposure of private cardholderinformation, while allowing the merchant to view the status of theprogram. The loyalty system 26 may use summary data to recommendincentives or raw data.

For instance a merchant may wish to know how certain cards identified byBIN number are contributing to his sales. By comparing this informationwith historical reports and current internal customer payment methods amerchant can judge which financial card types are providing the mostbenefit for his organization.

A example process for customizing loyalty programs involving cardholderswill now be described, and specifically a system administrator for theoperator of the loyalty system may adjust the parameters associated withreward generation and change incentives (based on e.g. recommendedincentives) in connection with specific members.

The cardholder benefits processing utility 30 may be further configuredfor processing financial transactions (or transaction utility (notshown) that is operable to conduct electronic transactions betweenloyalty system 26 and the card issuer system 38) possibly also betweenthe loyalty system 26 and the merchant acquirer system 40.

The cost of acquiring new customers is generally quite high, and this isa cost that merchants tend to monitor very closely. Particularly if amerchant's relationship with card issuers by operation of loyalty system26 permits the merchant to acquire a new customer through the cardissuer, merchants will generally be willing to provide to the cardholderand/or to the card issuer relatively significant incentives inconsideration of obtaining the new customer. Loyalty system 26 mayenable a merchant to target incentives to particular sub-groups ofcardholders, depending on their interest (e.g. cardholder attributes) tomerchant.

For example, a cardholder whose BIN number is associated with theprogram may go to a merchant who is also associated with the program.Within the loyalty system 26, the cardholder may be given a code to bepresented at the merchant's location that reflects a discount offer(e.g. incentive). Upon payment, the cardholder receives a discount onmonies owed. The cardholder in the above example is also given anadditional item (e.g. a further incentive) from the merchant's inventoryas recognition for the cardholder being a member of the applicableloyalty program.

After the cardholder transaction has been completed, the transactiondata is relayed to the loyalty system 26 and the cardholder benefitsprocessing utility 34 is operable to automatically offer prize entriesas a follow up to the cardholder's purchase (e.g. a further incentive),based on the loyalty program rules defined by the merchant.

After the cardholder transaction has been completed the transaction datamay be relayed to the loyalty system 26. The loyalty system 26 definesin accordance with a particular loyalty program a set of rules tocomplement existing points programs by converting the transaction data(e.g. identified merchant, amount of transaction, date of transaction,time of transaction) to convert the transaction into points inconnection with the applicable card issuer's BIN range point program andbased upon parameters set by each participating merchant. For instance,the system 26 may convert transaction incentives or prizes within theloyalty program to points provided through the card issuer to thecardholder based on a pre-determined formula (usually based on anarrangement between the card issuer and the merchants, facilitated bythe operator of the loyalty system). The loyalty system 26 would forexample convert a $100.00 spent by a cardholder under a loyalty programinto 100 points if the transaction was completed between the hours of00:00:00 and 12:00:00 Monday through Friday and 50 points at any othertime for the particular card used at a particular merchant.

The cardholder in the above example visits a merchant participating inthe loyalty system 26. The cardholder chooses to use the financial cardthat is registered with the loyalty system 26 over other financialcards, and completes a transaction. The loyalty system 26 identifies themerchant, the date, the amount and optionally the time of day and theterminal ID and also establishes any accrued benefits including points,prizes or discounted offers. The card issuer in this case receivesadditional revenue from increased card use as the cardholder chooses theregistered card issuers' card over another financial card.

The loyalty system 26 allows for the existing point programs operated bythe card issuer to be identified and supported within the loyalty system26. This occurs when, after conversion of incentives (for example) intopoints, the card issuer then applies additional incentives through itsown point system thereby creating an enhanced points program.

It is possible that the card issuer would charge the operator of theloyalty system 26 (or the merchants themselves) for access to BIN rangesof cardholders, and other attributes of cardholders. The charges coulddepend on the efforts expended by the card issuer to encouragecardholders to enroll in the loyalty program. Or, the card issuer mayelect to charge differing amounts for loyalty system 26 access dependingon the demographics and other attributes of particular cardholders.

A card issuer increases its revenue by offering incentives to consumersto use a particular financial card with a greater number of merchants.Merchants associated with the loyalty system 26 provide incrementalincentives to cardholders in certain BIN ranges. This way the cardissuer and the loyalty system 26 cooperate to bring more business to thecommon group.

The card issuers may elect to charge the cardholders an annual fee tocarry a financial card that is associated with a particular BIN range,and thereby also eligible for certain richer benefits in connection witha loyalty program. The additional annual fees represent an importantsource of additional revenue to the card issuer.

As previously stated, a merchant belonging to the loyalty system 26 maychoose to offer rewards/incentives based upon time of day and date. Theincentives may also be based on a particular good or service. Themerchant's merchant acquirer provides selected information relating toparticular BIN ranges, transactions, dates and times (e.g. attributes).The loyalty system identifies the merchant, the time of day and the dateand applies differential incentives either through the loyalty system orin the form of differential points transferred to the card issuer forthe cardholder.

The merchant through the loyalty system 26 contracts with the merchantacquirer for anticipated additional transactions from a particular setof BIN numbers. The merchant acquirer is rewarded for the service in theform of a transaction fee or monthly fee through the loyalty system. Themerchant may pay a differential rate for an access to a particular BINas the cardholders to a particular BIN may offer a greater opportunityfor transactions.

A merchant acquirer may realize additional revenues due to differingtransaction fees associated with differing BIN number acceptance as aform of payment by a participating merchant. The merchant acquirer mayelect to charge differing transaction fees for acceptance of cardswithin certain BIN range of a participating card issuer.

Loyalty system 26 may provide an opportunity for merchants, and for cardissuers if they are willing, to efficiently operate and maintain theirown loyalty program that provides the ability to share customers throughcross-promotion between card issuers and merchants, and alsocross-promotion between merchants involving cardholders who becomemembers. Loyalty system 26 may enable card issuers and merchants toobtain direct customer feedback and to perceive measured resultsregarding customer transactions at each merchant, including bases onanalysis of BIN number ranges by operation of the loyalty system of thepresent invention.

The card issuers may be provided with an economic interest to motivatethe cardholders to become members of the loyalty system and to transactwith merchants in order for the cardholders who are members to obtainbenefits from the merchants (or from the card issuer based on anarrangement with the merchants). Recommended incentives tailored to atarget segment may be a mechanism to increase transactions bycardholders. Again, customers of a co-branded card for example may beidentified within the loyalty system 26 by means of their financial cardBIN range number through the registration process, thereby enablingsubsequent transactions involving particular cardholders and particularmerchants to be tracked and measured results to be proven to cardissuers and merchants alike.

Benefits or incentives may be accrued on behalf of members (includingmembers who are cardholders) in a number of ways. The benefitsthemselves can vary. For example, pre-set benefit application or paymentrates are associated with particular transactions associated with theloyalty system 26.

Within the loyalty system 26, merchants may be motivated to develop newand innovative loyalty programs (through the use of recommendedincentives) that will automatically be accessible to cardholders. Thissaves the card issuer the time and resources generally required todevise new loyalty programs and enter into associated arrangements withtheir partners, often separately for each program.

Loyalty system 26 may provide a means of generating financialtransactions and/or customers for financial institutions or merchants,or both.

Loyalty system 26 may provide flexibility in the arrangements made bythe merchants, or in fact in some bases between the merchants and thecard issuers, as it relates to the benefits provided to cardholders whobecome members. These arrangements can define the pre-determinedbenefits associated with particular transactions, e.g. a per transactionbenefit to the cardholder or in fact to the card issuer. As such,loyalty system 26 may provide a potential source of new revenue for thecard issuer to the extent that not all of the benefits earmarked forcardholders' transactions is actually passed on to the cardholders.

It may be open to the card issuer to also provide benefits or incentivesto cardholders in connection with transactions associated with theloyalty system. For example, card issuers may want to enhance incentivesavailable from merchants in connection with specific transactions withincentives that they are themselves providing because for example theimpact of client retention of a preferred customer who is a golfer mightbe enhanced if an incentive from the card issuer is providedspecifically in connection with a transaction that brings happiness tothe golfer, i.e. golf. The loyalty system 26 can assist with incentivesmay recommending incentives for target segment. Alternatively, the cardissuer could “top up” benefits provided by merchants, thereby enhancingthe merchant's relationship with the cardholder who is a member, if themerchant is a customer of the card issuer or a related entity of thecard issuer.

Consequently, the loyalty system 26, at little or no additional cost,can be used as a means of generating additional new business for thecard issuer.

Loyalty system 26 may effectively permit some merchants who wouldotherwise not be able to enter into co-branded card type arrangements(e.g. because of start up costs or because of the merchant is a regionalretailer where the merchant might not otherwise be attractive to a largefinancial institution) to provide loyalty programs. Accordingly, loyaltysystem 26 may allow regional merchants to compete better againstnational chains that may have more resources to dedicate to buildingloyalty programs.

Loyalty system 26 may provide a loyalty program with a low cost way toacquire customers and pay for them over future transactions. It may alsoprovide the co-branded partner the ability to expand transactions on thecurrent card base, both from the initial referrals and subsequenttransactions resulting from cross promotional offers within the loyaltysystem among other merchants.

A financial card can be moved to the front of the wallet to be used formore transactions, where the cardholder is motivated to use the cardbased on incentives that are recommended for the particular cardholderbased on associated attributes.

Cardholders of selected co-branded financial cards may become memberswhere the co-branded partners' service or product is not reallycompetitive with the loyalty system merchants. Accordingly, use ofco-branded cards in connection with the described loyalty system 26 mayprotect transaction market share for both the card issuer and co-brandedpartners' market share.

The card issuer, the co-branded partner and the merchants of the loyaltyprogram may increase their customer transactions through sharingcustomers.

Flexibility may be provided to card issuers and merchants to devise,implement, and then measure the effectiveness of, variouscross-promotional initiatives, can dramatically increase the returns oninvestment of card issuers and merchants alike, in connection with theircustomer retention and customer acquisition activities. Further, theloyalty system 26 may facilitate this process by providing recommendedincentives for various loyalty programs.

Other implementations and extensions may be implemented by loyaltysystem 26. For example, various security methods and technologies forrestricting access to resources of the loyalty system 26 to thoseauthorized to do so by the operator of the loyalty system 26 may beused. Loyalty system 26 may use various existing and future technologiesto process payments by operation of the transaction utility 38. Loyaltysystem 26 may provide various tools and interfaces for interacting withthe loyalty system. The system 26 may also allow for robust reportingwhich may include comparative reports of member affinity or oftransaction history with participating merchants. In other words, membertransaction history may be different for differing groups of membersbased on member affinity.

Data storage device 32 maintains benefits accounts 34 a, merchantaccounts 34 b, card issuer accounts 34 c for storing attributesregarding merchants, cardholders and card issuers. The attributes may beused to determine incentives to offer in relation to various loyaltyprograms.

Loyalty system 26 may include a card issuer system 38 which may beconfigured with various computing applications, such as a points/rewardsprogram 64, cardholder registration 68, card issuer reporting tool 66,and a data storage device with cardholder and transaction data 70. Thepoints/rewards program 64 may manage loyalty programs offered by cardissuer system 38 independently or in conjunction with loyalty system 26.Existing loyalty data tool 58 may interact with points/rewards program64 regarding loyalty programs offered by card issuer system 38. Thepoints/rewards program 64 may populate cardholder and transaction data70 based on data collected from loyalty programs. Cardholderregistration 68 may enable cardholders to register for financial cardswith card issuer. Cardholder registration 68 may populate cardholder andtransaction data 70 based on data collected from registration. The cardissuer reporting tool 66 may generate reports based on cardholder andtransaction data 70 and data maintained by loyalty system 26 as part ofdata storage device 32. Data storage device 32 may maintain a copy ofcardholder and transaction data 70, or may contain separate data. Datascrub utility 56 may normalize, scrub, convert and perform otheroperations on data received from card issuer system 38. Loyalty programmodule 22 may be used to create and manage various loyalty programs forcard issuer system 38 and may interact with points/rewards program 64.

Loyalty system 26 may include a merchant interface 52 for interactingwith merchant system 40 and generating various interfaces for display onmerchant system 40. The merchant interface 52 may provide a mechanismfor merchant system 40 to create, customize, and manage loyalty programsand incentives. Data scrub utility 56 may normalize, scrub, convert andperform other operations on data received from merchant system 40.

Merchant system 40 may be configured with various computingapplications, such as merchant reporting tool 66 for generating reportsregarding loyalty programs and for displaying interfaces received frommerchant interface 52 to create, customize, and manage loyalty programsand incentives. A computing application may correspond to hardware andsoftware modules comprising computer executable instructions toconfigure physical hardware to perform various functions and discernibleresults. A computing application may be a computer software or hardwareapplication designed to help the user to perform specific functions, andmay include an application plug-in, a widget, instant messagingapplication, mobile device application, e-mail application, onlinetelephony application, Java application, web page, or web objectresiding, executing, running or rendered on the merchant system 40.Merchant system 40 is operable to authenticate merchants (using a login,unique identifier, and password for example) prior to providing accessto applications and loyalty system 40. Merchant system 40 may bedifferent types of devices and may serve one user or multiple merchants.For example, merchant system 40 may be a merchant acquirer system 40 mayserve multiple merchants. Although merchant system 40 is depicted withvarious components in FIG. 1 as a non-limiting illustrative example,merchant system 40 may contain additional or different components, suchas point of sale system or other transaction processing system.

Merchant system 40 may include one or more input devices, such as akeyboard, mouse, camera, touch screen and a microphone, and may alsoinclude one or more output devices such as a display screen and aspeaker. Merchant system 40 has a network interface in order tocommunicate with other components, to serve an application and otherapplications, and perform other computing applications by connecting tonetwork (or multiple networks) capable of carrying data including theInternet, Ethernet, plain old telephone service (POTS) line, publicswitch telephone network (PSTN), integrated services digital network(ISDN), digital subscriber line (DSL), coaxial cable, fiber optics,satellite, mobile, wireless (e.g. Wi-Fi, WiMAX), SS7 signaling network,fixed line, local area network, wide area network, and others, includingany combination of these. Although only one merchant system 40 is shownfor clarity, there may be multiple merchant systems 40 or groups ofmerchant systems 40 distributed over a wide geographic area andconnected via e.g. network.

Merchant system 40 includes data storage devices storing merchant data72 particular to the merchant, such as geographic location, inventoryrecords, historical records, and the like. Data storage devices may alsostore customer and transaction data 74 such as customer names,addresses, contact information, target potential customers, transactiondetails, and so on.

While the example systems in FIGS. 1 and 2 are generally directed toloyalty systems, the aspects of the connected systems may be directedtowards an advertising verification system. For example, in addition toor in place of any of the systems 26, 38, 40, 80 in FIG. 1 or 2 , theconnected systems may include an advertising system for generatingand/or displaying advertisements. Accordingly, aspects of theseadvertisements may be used to verify when an advertisement correspondsto an actual purchases at a merchant. In some examples, this may beuseful for verifying the effectiveness of advertisements or fordetermining commissions or other advertising remuneration.

Reference will now be made to FIG. 3 which provides a flowchart diagramof an example method for verifying a transaction. While the exampleembodiments described below relate to rewards and loyalty systems, in asimilar manner, similar systems and methods can be applied to anadvertising verification system for tracking purchase transactions backto advertisements activated by a customer.

At 310, one or more processors at the loyalty system 26 can beconfigured to receive transaction data. This transaction data cancorrespond to transactions performed via the card issuer such as afinancial institution or payment processor. This transaction data may bereceived periodically, sporadically, or in real or near-real time. Thetransaction data can be received individually for each transaction, orin batches or other groupings comprising transaction data for multipletransactions. In some examples, transaction data can be received inbatches, for example, after a merchant or card issuer has posted itstransaction data. While the posting of transaction data may occurimmediately, the posting of transaction data may sometimes occur with adelay between the original transaction and the posting of thetransaction data. In some examples, the systems and methods describedherein may address challenges associated with incomplete transactiondata received by the loyalty system and the timing disconnect betweenthe occurrence of the transaction and the receipt of its correspondingdata.

For example, in some example scenarios, wherein the loyalty system 26 isphysically, logically, and/or owned/operated separately from the cardissuer system 38, the merchant system 40 and/or a transaction processingsystem, the loyalty system 26 may have little or no control over theinformation received in the transaction data and/or the timing of thereceipt of such information. Therefore, in some such scenarios,incomplete or limited transaction information and/or a timing disconnectbetween the occurrence of the transaction and the receipt of itscorresponding data may cause technical challenges to the operation ofthe loyalty system. Such technical challenges may be overcome by atleast some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

At 320, one or more processors at the loyalty system 26 can beconfigured to determine whether the received transaction data isassociated with the loyalty program. This can include, for example,determining whether the transaction involves one or more participants ofthe loyalty program or involves an appropriate type of transaction. Aparticipant can include a merchant participant, a cardholderparticipant, a charity participant, a card issue participant, anadvertising participant or any other participant in the loyalty program.This determination can be performed on a per-transaction basis.

In an embodiment, a group or batch of transactions may be processedtogether. For example, the loyalty system 26 may be configured toidentify multiple transactions with shared or similar characteristics(e.g., having the same participants, from the same time period, etc.).Such identification may be performed using filters, heuristics,templates, or the like, or a combination thereof. Such identificationmay allow multiple transactions to be processed together, e.g., to makethe same determination for each of the transactions. In this way,processing efficiency may be improved and utilization of processingresources may be reduced. In an embodiment, the loyalty system 26 mayaccumulate received transactions until groups or batches of sufficientsize (e.g., meeting a pre-defined threshold) are available for efficientprocessing together.

Upon determining that transaction data for a transaction or group oftransactions is associated with the loyalty program, one or moreprocessors at the loyalty system 26 can be configured to store thetransaction data. In some examples, the data can be stored in the formatin which it is received. However, in some examples, storing the data caninclude reformatting the data, creating new metadata, removing portionsof the data and/or converting the data for the loyalty system'spurposes.

In some examples, transaction data which is determined to not beassociated with the loyalty program may be discarded or stored in aseparate location or data structure.

At 330, the one or more processors can be configured to determinewhether the transaction data for a transaction corresponds to a rewardor advertisement. In some examples, matching a transaction to areward/advertisement can be based on any number of the existence of areward, the activation time of the reward, the expiry date of thereward, the existence of other rewards, previous redemptions, timing ofthe transaction, and other considerations.

Reward/advertisement matching can, in some examples, include determiningwhether the transaction meets aggregate spending or number oftransaction thresholds.

At 340, when the transaction corresponds to a reward or advertisement,the one or more processors can be configured to trigger redemptions orreversals of rewards. In some examples, redemptions/reversals caninclude marking rewards/ads as redeemed and/or reversing previouslyredeemed rewards/ads.

FIGS. 4-8 illustrate flowcharts of aspects of an example method forverifying a transaction. Aspects of these flowcharts may be performed bythe loyalty system 26, or any other system involved in the loyalty oradvertisement program.

As illustrated on FIG. 4 , transaction data can be received by one ormore processors by way of a networked data connection such as anenterprise service bus or other data connection, wirelessly, or via aphysically transportable medium or media such as a CD, DVD, flashmemory, portable hard drive and the like. In some examples, thetransaction data regarding a transaction can include fields other datastructures including transaction identification codes, transactioncodes, merchant store identification codes, cardholder accountidentifiers, currency codes, transaction amounts, currency conversiondata, transaction authorization dates and times, card issuer referencenumbers or trace codes, and any other data associated with atransaction. This transaction data may be a complete or subset of datagenerated or collected by a card issuer/processor and/or merchant. Insome examples, one or more of the identifiers, identification codesand/or other transaction data may include or may be in the form of atoken or other substitute identifier for hiding or otherwise protectingsensitive data.

In some examples, the transaction data may be grouped into records orother formats or data structures.

In some examples, the loyalty system may be physically, logically and/oroperationally separate from any transaction processing system, cardissuer system, and/or merchant system. For example, the loyalty systemmay not be integrated with any point-of-sale terminal, and/or may nothave access to customer or merchant information stored at the cardissuer or other system. In some such examples, the loyalty system mayallow for the implementation of a loyalty program and/or the matching oftransactions with only transaction data being received from one of theother systems. In some instances, receiving only partial or limitedtransaction information such as only a merchant ID, a customer ID, and atransaction amount, may create technical challenge(s) for the loyaltysystem.

Using the transaction data, one or more processors can be configured todetermine if the transaction corresponds to a purchase or a return. Insome examples, this can involve evaluating a transaction code or atransaction amount. Transaction data corresponding to other transactionssuch as inquiries, payment refusals and the like may be determined tonot be associated with the loyalty program and may be discarded orstored separately.

Using the transaction data, one or more processors can be configured todetermine if the transaction was conducted at a merchantparticipant/partner or was conducted by a customer participant/partnerof the loyalty program. In some examples, this can involve evaluatingmerchant identification codes, and account holder identification codesagainst database(s) of registered loyalty merchants and customers.

Transaction data which does not correspond to both a registered merchantand a registered customer can, in some examples, may be determined tonot correspond to a reward. However, in some examples, transaction datawhich corresponds to a merchant member but not a customer member, or toa customer member but not a merchant member, may be stored or processedfor other purposes. Some example purposes include advertisementverification, aggregate merchant activity information, aggregatecustomer activity information, and/or any other purpose.

The transaction data which is determined to be associated with theloyalty system can then be stored in its original received format orotherwise. In some examples, storing the data can include transformingthe data, e.g., reformatting the data, creating new metadata, removingportions of the data and/or converting the data for the loyalty system'spurposes. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 4 , the time of thetransaction may be converted into a local time of the merchant,customer, card issuer, loyalty system or otherwise. In another example,the transaction data can be converted into a format used by the loyaltyor other system such as a “Next Generation Loyalty” or NGL transaction.

Transforming the data for storage may facilitate more efficient storage,e.g., by reducing the amount of data to be stored, or by improving theefficiency and/or effectiveness of any compression or encryption appliedto the data. Transforming the data for storage may also facilitate moreefficient retrieval, e.g., by improving indexing or searching by way ofmetatags.

The transaction data can be saved at a location/database accessible bythe loyalty system or other system. As illustrated in FIG. 4 , at thispoint, aspects of the example method can continue with the SaveTransaction flowchart illustrated by way of example in FIG. 5 .

As illustrated in FIG. 5 , an example NGL transaction may include a newidentification code, a transaction ID, the merchant ID, the customer ID,a timestamp of when the transaction data was received, a transactiontime, a transaction amount, and a currency code.

Referring again to FIG. 4 , upon successful saving of the transactiondata, an audit entry can be generated to include data from the receivedtransaction data which may or may not have been stored with thetransaction data retained and stored for the loyalty or other system.Should a transaction not be successful in being saving, an exception maybe triggered.

With reference to FIG. 5 , before the transaction data is saved, in someexamples, one or more processors may be configured to determine whetherthe transaction data has already been stored/imported into the system.In some examples, this may involve comparing the transaction ID or otherreceived transaction data against transaction data already stored in theloyalty or other system. If a corresponding entry is found in theloyalty or other system, the received transaction data may be discarded,stored separately, or otherwise ignored.

In some embodiments, one or more processors can be configured todetermine whether the member corresponding to the received transactiondata was active at the time of the transaction. In some examples, thismay involve comparing the transaction time and customer/account holderID with information regarding the time of day or the location of themember stored in the loyalty or other system.

In some embodiments, one or more processors can be configured todetermine whether the merchant corresponding to the received transactiondata was active at the time of the transaction. In some examples, thismay involve comparing the transaction time and merchant store ID withinformation regarding the merchant location stored in the loyalty orother system. For example, the transaction time may be compared todetermine whether the merchant location was open for business at thetime of the transaction. In other examples, this may involve determiningwhether the merchant (or particular merchant location) was participatingin the loyalty program at the time of the transaction. For example, itmay be determined that at the time of the transaction the merchant (ormerchant location) may not have been fully enrolled in the program, ormay have withdrawn from the program, or may have been expelled/suspendedfrom the program (e.g., for non-payment or other reason). In anembodiment, the above-described comparisons may employ heuristics,hashes, or the like, or a combination thereof, to improve processingefficiency.

Upon satisfying itself that the transaction corresponding to thereceived transaction data is valid, the transaction data can be saved inthe manner described above or otherwise. In some examples, thetransaction data can be saved regardless of or in the absence of anypreliminary validity checks.

At this point, the example method can continue to process the receivedtransaction data against process event driven thresholds (continued, forexample, in the Process Thresholds flowchart in FIG. 6 ), and/or bestguess reward and/or advertisement redemption (continued, for example, inthe Best Guess Redemption flowchart in FIG. 7 ).

Before, concurrent with, or after completing the matching/transactionverification process(es), the one or more processors can be configuredto generate signals for issuing a survey to the customer associated withthe transaction. In some examples, this survey can be sentelectronically to an electronic address or device associated with thecustomer, or can be issued to an online portal or other systemaccessible to the customer.

In some examples, signals representing the response(s) to the survey canbe used to verify the reward or advertisement matching/verificationprocess(es). For example, the survey may include one or more questionsasking whether the transaction was conducted at least in part based on areward or advertisement, or similar question(s). In some examples, thesurvey may ask whether the transaction was conducted at least in partbased on a specific reward or advertisement.

In some examples, other signals can be received by the one or moreprocessors to verify the matching of a reward or advertisement. Forexample, if a reward or advertisement is presented to the merchant bythe customer either in print or via a mobile device, signals can begenerated by the customer's mobile device or a merchant device toindicate to the loyalty or other system a transaction is being triggeredin conjunction with a reward or advertisement. In some examples, thesesignals can include times, reward or advertisement identification(s), ortransaction information.

Upon determining whether the reward/advertisement wasredeemed/verified/matched, one or more processors may be configured tostore data linking or otherwise indicating that the transaction was orwas not matched/verified with one or more rewards and/or advertisements.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart illustrating an example method for determiningevent driven thresholds. In some examples, one or more processors may beconfigured to retrieve or otherwise have access to availablereward/advertisements. In the example method shown in FIG. 6 , therewards/thresholds are associated with a particular merchant. In someexamples, these thresholds can be associated with a specific merchantlocation (such as an individual store or a franchise location) or with anumber of merchant locations (such as any franchise location, or anyother group of related or unrelated businesses). In other examples,these thresholds can be associated with a specific customer members, agroup of customer members, or all customer members. Based on thisinformation, the one or more processors can determine whether one ormore thresholds have been reached to trigger one or more rewardredemptions or advertisement validations for the customer.

Based on the threshold reward or advertisement information, one or moreprocessors can be configured to determine if the transaction data meetsthe reward/advertisement redemption criteria. In some examples, this caninclude determining with the transaction data whether the transactionoccurred during a time period in which the reward or advertisement couldbe redeemed. For example, this could include limited time offers, offersfor specific times of the day/week/month/season/year/etc. In someexamples, this can include determining with the transaction data whetherthe transaction occurred during a time period in which cumulative totalsfor triggering rewards/advertisement could occur.

One or more processors can be configured, in some examples, to determineif the transaction would cause the member/customer to meetreward/advertisement threshold criteria. For individual transactionrewards/ads, the processor(s) can be configured to issue an event drivenreward/ad redemption if it determines from the transaction data that thetransaction was for an amount over the reward/ad threshold (e.g. areward for a minimum $20 spend).

In an embodiment, the one or more processors can be configured todetermine if the transaction would cause the member/customer to meetcriteria for receiving a particular reward or offer. For example, whensuch criteria are met, the member/customer may be issued an appreciationreward. The appreciation reward may provide the member/customer with adiscount or a gift. In some cases, the discount or gift may beredeemable by the customer upon their next visit/purchase at theparticular merchant. In one specific example, the appreciation rewardmay be provided if the member/customer shops with a particular merchantthree times, and be a 50% discount off the member/customer's nextpurchase from the particular merchant. When the transaction for thatnext purchase is received and processed at the loyalty system, thetransaction may be processed in manners described above to determinethat the relevant criteria have been met (e.g., that the customer hasshopped at the particular merchant three times).

If rewards/advertisement triggered by cumulative thresholds areavailable, one or more processors can be configured to retrieve,determine or otherwise access a previous cumulative total for thecustomer, and increment/decrement the totals for a purchase/refund.Totals for customer member visits could be incremented or decremented byone for each purchase or refund transaction. Totals for cumulativemember spend could be incremented or decremented by the transactionvalue. In some examples, these totals may be incremented/decremented bydifferent factors for certain promotions such as double points days.

With the inclusion of the current transaction data, if the customermember meets a reward/ad threshold, an event driven reward/ad redemptionis flagged and the associated cumulative total is reset.

This process can be repeated for each reward/ad available for themerchant/customer. In some examples, if multiple rewards/ads aretriggered, multiple rewards/ads can be flagged.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart illustrated an example method for confirmingreward redemption/ad validation. For each of the flagged rewards/ads,the processor(s) can be configured to determine whether the customeractivated the reward/ad. Activating the reward/ad can, in some examples,include providing an input to a mobile or online application displayingthe reward/ad, scanning a barcode or other tag, or any otheracknowledgement or acceptance of the reward/ad. In some examples, if theprocessor(s) determine that the reward/ad was not activated, thereward/ad is not redeemed.

In some examples, the processor(s) can be configured to determinewhether the transaction data indicates the transaction was performedafter the reward/ad was activated and/or the transaction was performedbefore an optional expiry period associated with the reward/ad. In someexamples, the expiry period may be relative to the activation date,while in other examples, the expiry period may be an absolute date/time.

In some examples, the processor(s) can be configured to determinewhether the reward was deactivated or deleted by the merchant, theloyalty system, an administrator or otherwise. In some examples, if thetransaction was before the deactivation or deletion time, the reward/admay still be redeemed. In some examples, the reward/ad may not beredeemed regardless of the timing of the deactivation/deletion.

In some examples, the processor(s) can be configured to determine if thereward/ad was already redeemed. In some examples, a reward/ad can beredeemed once, a specified number of times, or an unlimited number oftimes.

Upon satisfying any applicable criteria, the processor(s) can beconfigured for any rewards/ads associated with a charity donation tocalculated a donation amount with the transaction data. In someexamples, the calculated donation may be increased or decreased based onthe redeemed reward/ad.

The processor(s) can be configured to save, link or otherwise indicatethat the reward/ad has been redeemed.

As indicated, by example, in FIG. 7 , the processor(s) can be configuredto match the transaction data with the reward/ad most recently activatedby the member for the particular merchant. However, other matchingconfigurations may be applied. For example, as noted above, surveyresponses or signals received from a customer or merchant device mayalso be used to match rewards.

In some examples, the transaction data may be incorrectly matched to areward/ad. This may occur, for example, when multiple transactions areconducted by a customer at the same merchant within a short period oftime.

In some scenarios, the processor(s) can be configured to reverse anincorrect, duplicate or questionable reward/ad to transaction matching.FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of an example reward reversal. In someexamples, as part of a manually or automatically triggered audit processor any other process, the processor(s) can be configured to receivetarget transaction and target reward data.

The processor(s) can be configured to verifying whether the targettransaction, the target reward/ad, and the target cardholder are valid;and if the cardholder activated the target reward. If not, theprocessor(s) may be configured to end the audit process.

In some examples, the processor(s) can be configured to retrieve,request or otherwise access the existing redemptions for the targetreward and transaction. If the target transaction is matched to adifferent reward, the processor(s) can be configured to reverse thematch to the different reward. Similarly, if the target reward ismatched to a different transaction, the processor(s) can be configuredto reverse the match to the different transaction.

In some examples, reversing these matches can, when appropriate, includereversing or recalculating charity donations; reversing, updating orresending any pending or submitted surveys; revising any statistics oranalytics associated with redemptions and donations; and/or revising orregenerating any member redemptions/rewards.

Upon reversing an incorrect or undesired matching, the processor(s) canbe configured to apply the matching of the target transaction to thetarget reward in a similar manner as described herein or otherwise.

It will be appreciated that numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the exemplary embodimentsdescribed herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinaryskill in the art that the embodiments described herein may be practicedwithout these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods,procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not toobscure the embodiments described herein. Furthermore, this descriptionis not to be considered as limiting the scope of the embodimentsdescribed herein in any way, but rather as merely describingimplementation of the various embodiments described herein.

1. A method comprising: receiving transaction data associated with atransaction between a customer and merchant, wherein the transactiondata: are exchanged via telecommunications hardware for the transactionbetween the customer and the merchant with a short range wirelessnetwork operating according to the 802.11 family of standards; andincludes: transaction time information for the transaction transactionamount for the transaction; and data received from the customer whoconducted the transaction with the merchant; determining from thetransaction data whether the customer and the merchant are associatedwith an incentive by way of: identifiers in the transaction dataassociated with the merchant and the customer correspond to identifiersin a database of registered incentive identifiers; the transaction wascompleted during operational hours for the merchant; the transactionamount is greater than a threshold amount associated with an incentive;a cumulative transaction amount for all of the transaction amounts ofthe customer's said transactions with the merchant have a sum that isgreater than a cumulative threshold amount associated with theincentive; the time corresponding to the transaction time informationfor the transaction corresponds to a time that: the incentive wasactivated; or was before an expiry time associated with the incentive;the incentive has already been redeemed by the customer; and the datareceived from the customer who conducted the transaction with themerchant corresponds to the incentive; and upon determining from thetransaction data whether the customer and the merchant are associatedwith the incentive: determining whether the transaction data has beenpreviously received, and if so, discontinuing processing the transactiondata; and otherwise, triggering the redemption of the incentive.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the incentive is a charity donation paid bythe merchant to a charity that is calculated as a donation amount byusing the transaction data.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein anidentifier is associated with the customer and is the only informationin the received transaction data for identifying the customer.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the incentive is an advertisement.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the incentive is a reward.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the incentive is at least one of a reward and anadvertisement.
 7. A non-transitory, computer readable medium or mediahaving stored thereon computer readable instructions which when executedby hardware configure the hardware to: receive transaction dataassociated with a transaction between a customer and merchant, whereinthe transaction data: are exchanged via telecommunications hardware forthe transaction between the customer and the merchant with a short rangewireless network operating according to the 802.11 family of standards;and includes: transaction time information for the transactiontransaction amount for the transaction; and data received from thecustomer who conducted the transaction with the merchant; determine fromthe transaction data whether the customer and the merchant areassociated with an incentive from: identifiers in the transaction dataassociated with the merchant and the customer correspond to identifiersin a database of registered incentive identifiers; the transaction wascompleted during operational hours for the merchant; the transactionamount is greater than a threshold amount associated with t h eincentive; a cumulative transaction amount for all of the transactionamounts of the customer's said transactions with the merchant have a sumthat is greater than a cumulative threshold amount associated with theincentive; the time corresponding to the transaction time informationfor the transaction corresponds to a time that: the incentive wasactivated; or was before an expiry time associated with the incentive;the incentive has already been redeemed by the customer; and the datareceived from the customer who conducted the transaction with themerchant corresponds to the incentive; and upon the determination fromthe transaction data whether the customer and the merchant areassociated with the incentive: determine whether the transaction datahas been previously received, and if so, discontinuing processing thetransaction data; and otherwise, trigger the redemption of theincentive.
 8. The non-transitory, computer readable medium or media ofclaim 7, wherein the incentive is a charity donation paid by themerchant to a charity that is calculated as a donation amount by usingthe transaction data.
 9. The non-transitory, computer readable medium ormedia of claim 7, wherein an identifier is associated with the customerand is the only information in the received transaction data foridentifying the customer.
 10. The non-transitory, computer readablemedium or media of claim 7, wherein the transaction data corresponds tothe incentive which is a reward.
 11. The non-transitory, computerreadable medium or media of claim 7, wherein the transaction datacorresponds to the incentive which is an advertisement.
 12. Thenon-transitory, computer readable medium or media of claim 7, whereinthe computer readable instructions, when executed by the hardwareconfigure the hardware to: discontinue, upon determining that thetransaction data had been previously received, processing of thetransaction data; and otherwise trigger the redemption of the incentive.13. The non-transitory, computer readable medium or media of claim 7,wherein the computer readable instructions, when executed by thehardware, further configure the hardware to determine, upon adetermination that the transaction data had been previously received,that the transaction data corresponds to a second said incentive and ifso, the generate signals to change: a first indicator to indicate thatthe incentive has not been redeemed; and a second indicator to indicatethat the second said incentive has been redeemed.
 14. A systemcomprising hardware configured to: receive transaction data associatedwith a transaction between a customer and merchant, wherein thetransaction data: are exchanged via telecommunications hardware for thetransaction between the customer and the merchant with a short rangewireless network operating according to the 802.11 family of standards;and includes: transaction time information for the transactiontransaction amount for the transaction; and data received from thecustomer who conducted the transaction with the merchant; determine fromthe transaction data whether the customer and the merchant areassociated with an incentive using: identifiers in the transaction dataassociated with the merchant and the customer correspond to identifiersin a database of registered incentive identifiers; the transaction wascompleted during operational hours for the merchant; the transactionamount is greater than a threshold amount associated with an incentive;a cumulative transaction amount for all of the transaction amounts ofthe customer's said transactions with the merchant have a sum that isgreater than a cumulative threshold amount associated with theincentive; the time corresponding to the transaction time informationfor the transaction corresponds to a time that: the incentive wasactivated; or was before an expiry time associated with the incentive;the incentive has already been redeemed by the customer; and the datareceived from the customer who conducted the transaction with themerchant corresponds to the incentive; and upon the determination fromthe transaction data whether the transaction corresponds to theincentive: determine whether the transaction data has been previouslyreceived, and if so, discontinuing processing the transaction data; andotherwise, trigger the redemption of the incentive.
 15. The system asdefined in claim 14, wherein the incentive is a charity donation paid bythe merchant to a charity that is calculated as a donation amount byusing the transaction data.
 16. The system as defined in claim 14,wherein an identifier is associated with the customer and is the onlyinformation in the received transaction data for identifying thecustomer.
 17. The system as defined in claim 14, wherein, transactiondata corresponds to the incentive which is a reward.
 18. The system asdefined in claim 14, wherein the transaction data corresponds to theincentive which is an advertisement.
 19. The system as defined in claim14, further comprising: discontinuing, upon determining that thetransaction data had been previously received, processing of thetransaction data; and otherwise triggering the redemption of theincentive.
 20. The system as defined in claim 14, where in the hardwareis further configured to determine, upon determining that thetransaction data had been previously received, that the transaction datacorresponds to a second said incentive and if so then generate signalsto change: a first indicator to indicate that the incentive has not beenredeemed; and a second indicator to indicate that the second saidincentive been redeemed.